Literature
+

More Info
+

Experience-Based Performance

DSPEC 50 and DSPEC 502 salute the 50th year in which ORTEC has delivered innovative and quality nuclear instrumentation to scientists in a broad range of applications world wide. Fifteen years after the first ORTEC DSPEC® digital spectrometer received acclaim among spectroscopists for its performance and stability, the new DSPEC 50 and DSPEC 502 are landmark products which bring together our long design experience in digital spectrometers and the ongoing innovation skills of our developers.

The “retro” look front panel, which incorporates a built-in display, a reminder of earlier times in the evolution of multichannel analyzers, but inside, the DSPEC 50 is packed full of the latest digital signal processing technology and quality design.

Digital spectrometers are inherently more stable than the analog variety common in the past. In introducing the DSPEC 50, ORTEC has launched an all-new digital instrument platform, enhanced with a number of unique features and modes of operation which have distinct benefit in real-world applications.

DSPEC 50 Features at a Glance

For High-Rate Spectroscopy Applications

“Loss Free” or “Zero Dead Time” (ZDT)
The usual way to account for counting losses at high rates is by extending the acquisition time. The underlying assumption is that the sample count rate does not change during the total counting period. This is far from true when short half lives are encountered or the sample is in motion (e.g., flowing through a pipe). ORTEC has refined the loss-free counting technique in the digital domain. In this method, the spectrum itself is corrected pulse by pulse, and the ZDT method provides both an accurately corrected spectrum and correctly calculated statistical uncertainty.

“Enhanced Throughput” Mode
Accuracy at high input count-rates can be limited by the speed at which the spectrometer stores data to memory. It is said to be “throughput-limited.” Pulse pileup means that beyond a certain point, as input count-rate increases still further, the rate of data stored to memory DECREASES, reducing result quality. By developing a new kind of digital peak detection algorithm, ORTEC has increased the maximum throughput by up to 30% by removing some of the dead time associated with the process of pulse peak amplitude determination.

For Samples in Motion

List Mode
For situations in which the sample is moving relative to the detector, it is often vitally important to be able to measure an activity profile as a function of time. Examples of such applications include aerial and land-based surveying and portal monitoring. It is usually a requirement that no “dead periods” occur, associated with the acquire-store-clear-restart cycle. In the list mode of operation, data are streamed directly to the computer, event by event. There is no associated “dead period.” In the DSPEC 50 implementation, each event is timestamped to an accuracy of 200 nanoseconds. Via the use of the A11 Programmer’s Toolkit, the data may be made into a spectrum for off-line analysis by one of ORTEC’s wide range of analysis software products or user-developed codes.

For Hostile Environments and Mechanical Coolers

Low-Frequency Rejector (LFR)
HPGe detectors do not always perform well in environments where there is mechanical vibration. Microphonic noise degrades energy resolution by adding low frequency periodic electrical noise to the primary signal. Electrical ground loops are also a source of low frequency electrical noise. The increasing use of mechanical coolers for HPGe detectors to eliminate the need for LN2 and increasing need to take HPGe detectors out of the laboratory environment mean an increase in mechanical vibration. DSPEC 50 incorporates a Low-Frequency Rejecter (LFR) Filter feature, which reduces the effects of such noise sources.

For Enhancement of Resolution in Large or Neutron Damaged Detectors

Ballistic Deficit and Charge Trapping Correction
The trapezoidal digital filter in the DSPEC 50 is the same as all other ORTEC DSPEC family members. It allows adjustment of the filter to optimize the resolution performance of large HPGe detectors which often have low-side peak tailing when ballistic deficit is present. These large detectors are increasing in use in low level counting applications. The adjustment is largely automated by the use of the “OPTIMIZE” feature and may be monitored by the InSightTM Virtual Oscilloscope mode.

The DSPEC 50 offers even further capability in the form of the Resolution Enhancer, a charge trapping corrector which can be used to reduce the peak degradation for neutron damaged detectors. The neutron damage to the crystal lattice causes “trapping” centers which hold some of the charge created by the gamma-ray interaction. This results in low-side tailing similar to ballistic deficit although the cause is different. The charge trapping corrector is calibrated or “trained” for the individual detector such that it adds back the pulse height deficit, event by event.

Specifications
+

For use when connecting one or more DSPEC 50 or 502 instruments to a single computer. ORTEC CONNECTIONS software supports up to 255 USB-connected devices per computer.

Ethernet Connection

Allows control of a DSPEC 50 from one or more PCs across a network. Standard 10/100M Ethernet connection. TCP/IP Protocol. Link and Activity LEDs are integrated into the RJ-45 connector.

System Gain Settings

Coarse Gain: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128.

Fine Gain: 0.5 to 1.1.

The available range of gain settings supports all types of HPGe radiation detectors. Specifically, the following maximum energy values are achievable using the standard ORTEC preamplifier (maximum gain to minimum gain):

COAX

187 keV to 24 MeV

LO-AX

94 keV to 12 MeV

GLP/SLP

16.5 keV to 2 MeV

IGLET-X

8 keV to 1 MeV

Preamplifiers

Computer selectable as either resistive or TRP preamplifier.

System Conversion Gain

The system conversion gain is software controlled from 512 to 16k channels.

Digital Filter Shaping Time Constants

Rise Times: 0.8 µs to 23 µs in steps of 0.2 µs.

Flat Tops: 0.3 to 2.4 in steps of 0.1 µs.

Digital Spectrum Stabilizer

Controlled via computer, stabilizes gain and zero errors.

System Temperature Coefficient

Gain: <50 ppm/°C. [Typically <30 ppm/°C.]

Offset: <5 ppm/°C of full scale, with Rise and Fall times of 12 µs, and Flat Top of 0.8 µs. (Similar to analog 6 µs shaping.)

Internal battery-backed up memory to maintain settings in the event of a power interruption.

Inputs and Outputs
If both MCAs are installed (502 model), each MCA has each of the following connectors:

Detector

Multipin connector (13W3) with the following:

Preamp Power: 1 W maximum (+12 V, –12 V, +24 V, –24 V, 2 GND).

Analog In: Normal amplifier input.

TRP Inhibit.

Power for SMART-1 or DIM.

Control of HV and SMART-1 Detector (2 wires).

Analog In

Rear-panel BNC accepts preamplifier signals of either polarity, with rise times less than the selected Flat Top Time setting and exponential decay time constant in the range of 40 µs to infinity (including transistor-reset and pulsed-optical reset preamplifiers). Input impedance >500 W, input is dc-coupled and protected to ±12 V.

Rear-panel BNC connector accepts reset signals from transistor-reset (TRP) or pulsed-optical (POF) preamplifiers. Positive NIM logic or TTL level can be used. Inhibit input initiates the protection against distortions caused by preamplifier reset. This includes turning off the baseline restorer, monitoring the overload recovery, and generating the pile-up reject and busy signals for the duration of the overload. These last two signals are used internally to provide information to the dead-time correction circuitry.

Radiation Detector High Voltage SuppliesDSPEC 50 offers high voltage supply flexibility having both internal HV supplies and support for ORTEC DIM and SMART-1 detector HV systems.

Internal High Voltage Supplies

Positive Output

Rear-panel SHV connector, +500 to +5 kV. Computer controlled. Only active when the unit is set for positive bias.

Negative Output

Rear-panel SHV connector, –500 to –5 kV. Computer controlled. Only active when the unit is set for negative bias.

Shutdown In

Rear-panel BNC is used to turn off the bias supply voltage in the event that the detector warms up. The SHUTDOWN must be connected to the Bias Shutdown of the detector, or the high voltage will not turn on. The remote shutdown may be set to ORTEC or TTL mode via computer control.

In ORTEC mode, the Remote Shutdown has the following properties:

An open circuit applied to the SHUTDOWN input indicates a warm detector; therefore, the high voltage is turned off.

Drawing a current of 0.33 mA from the SHUTDOWN input indicates a cool detector; therefore, the high voltage can be turned on.

In TTL Mode, the Remote Shutdown has the following properties:

An open circuit or a >2.4 V signal on the input indicates that the detector is cool.

A <0.8 V signal on the input indicates that the detector is warm and the supply should be off.

The SHUTDOWN input is clamped at –700 mV by an internal clamp. For use with a detector without a shutdown circuit, this feature can be defeated by being left open in TTL mode.

DIM and SMART-1 Radiation Detector Types

SMART-1

HV module is integral with the detector itself.

non-SMART-1

For “legacy” or “non-SMART-1” detectors, the HV supply is in the form of a Detector Interface Module or “DIM” with 2 m cables. The DIM has a mating connector for the traditional detector cable set: 9-pin D preamp power cable, Analog In, Shutdown In, Bias Out, and Inhibit In.

DIMS for non-SMART-1 detectors are available with the following high voltage options:

In all cases, Bias Voltage Setting and Shutdown polarity are set from the computer. The DSPEC 50 can monitor the output voltage and shutdown state; Detector high voltage value (read only); and Detector high voltage state (on/off) are displayed on the front panel LCD. The SMART-1 detector provides additional state-of-health information by monitoring the following functions: Detector element temperature (read only); Detector overload state; and Detector serial number (read only).

Ordering Information
+

Model

Description

DSPEC-50

DSPEC 50 with MAESTRO Software, single MCA, and single internal High Voltage Power Supply

DSPEC-502

DSPEC 502 with MAESTRO Software, two MCAs, and two internal High Voltage Power Supplies